Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 27 posts

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#11

Post by dwcnnnghm »

moh_maya wrote: post #10

So, imo, cognitive biases, that you mention, are distinct from 'critical thinking'. One needs to be aware of the implicit & explicit biases, but that's not the same as the ability to think critically. I would argue the first step is to understand how people in general think, and in particular, how one thinks. For understanding "how" we think, with a clear focus on the biases and pitfalls, one very useful reference is…

+1 for Thinking Fast and Slow.

There was a discussion on HN recently [0] about cognitive biases. Readers provided some better links than the OP, but it's all worth a read.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16875497

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#12

Post by peterwwillis »

As a general website with tips on communication, this one has a lot of good things to start with: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/communication_skills.ht... . There seems to be about 140 pages of decent starting points on communicating better. Other general topics to check out (which they may touch on) would be non-violent communication, emotional intelligence, compassion, and empathy.

With regard to critical thinking, study the history of logic, specifically Greek philosophy, more specifically ancient Greek logic and rhetoric, and reasoning in general. (Logical fallacies are an extension of philosophical logic) All that could keep you busy for a few years, so I recommend just skipping around through Wikipedia for a few days/weeks and just noting down the really interesting things and then finding books and articles on those subjects.

All of that would be a base from which to understand the process of thought, logic, reasoning, rhetoric, etc. From there you can skip on to actual critial thinking as a basis for modern society: https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thi...

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#13

Post by curious_yogurt »

Critical thinking books vary widely in quality. They often get bogged down in long catalogues of fallacies and categorical logic (which, while interesting, is not as useful as sentential logic and some elementary strategies in first-order logic).

One of the shortest, simplest, and most reasonable books I have encountered is "A Rulebook for Arguments" by Anthony Weston, now in its fifth edition.[1] It's about 118 pages long, and is broken up into two basic sections: the first deals with general argument-rules, and then looks at some common sorts of inductive arguments in detail, as well as some common deductive argument-forms; the second deals with how to develop an extended argument, as well as how to compose argumentative essays and oral arguments. An appendix has brief treatments of some common fallacies.

The Rulebook does not have exercises, which some might find useful. But it is brief and to the point, written for the learner in mind, and its presentation is supported by strong examples. The advice for composing and presenting arguments tilts to the academic side of things, but is still generally applicable. The point of this book is to start you down the path of not merely appearing to be a competent reasoner, but to help you increase your analytical ability, and then to persuade others by means of stepping through a carefully reasoned argument.

[1] https://www.hackettpublishing.com/a-rulebook-for-arguments-4...

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#14

Post by StanislavPetrov »

Not a resource per se, but here are a few friendly bits of advice that have been very useful in my own pursuit of critical thinking:

Always be skeptical (skeptical, not cynical) of everything. Always demand evidence that can you independently verify (and be extra-skeptical of anyone claiming to have "secret evidence" that you aren't allowed to personally scrutinize).

Always be congiscent of the fact that the number of people who hold a position or tout of a belief has absolutely no relation to the veracity of that position or belief. As social beings we are predisposed towards groupthink. Widely-held positions and beliefs seem inherently more credible because of their widepsread acceptance. They aren't.

Always be especially skeptical towards information that seems to support and/or reinforce what you believe. Humans are also innately predisposed to conformation bias. Try to be aware of this innate predisposition when scrutinizing evidence that supports beliefs.

Beware of certainty. Always remember that we are imperfect beings. Our brains, our thought processes, our memories are all fallible. Our understanding of the universe is limited and there is far more we don't know, than what we do know. There's a critical difference between being "certain" about something, and being "as certain as you can be" about something. While this sounds like a semantic difference, it most definitely isn't. Always remain constantly aware, that as convinced as you may be of something, you could be wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#15

Post by mrkoot »

The 10-part series 'How to get Smarter: A guide to critical thinking, cognitive biases, and logical fallacies' published between in Jan-Apr 2018 at Life Lessons is also quite comprehensive. Covers 50 topics, 5 per post. I apologize for the length of what follows, but I believe this resource it worth it:

- Part 1: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarter/ 50. Intellectual laziness 49. Intellectual honesty 48. Intellectual dishonesty 47. Willful ignorance 46. Self-deception

- Part 2: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 45. Be a truth seeker 44. Be a realist 43. Open your mind 42. Don’t fall in love with your beliefs or your philosophy 41. Listen to your opponents and people who disagree with you

- Part 3: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 40. Don’t dismiss things you don’t understand 39. Don’t assume you’re smarter than the stranger you’re speaking with 38. Don’t confuse your perspective for objective reality 37. Don’t confuse feelings with facts 36. Don’t believe every thought that passes through your head

- Part 4: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 35. Beware of black and white thinking 34. Beware of the Dunning-Kruger effect 33. Uncertainty > The illusion of knowledge 32. Stand on the shoulders of giants 31. Have lots of gurus

- Part 5: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 30. Don’t attack straw men (don’t misrepresent your opponents argument) 29. Beware of circular logic and reasoning 28. Watch out for red herrings 27. The genetic fallacy (examine the statement – not the speaker) 26. The fallacy fallacy (don’t confuse a bad argument with a false conclusion)

- Part 6: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 25. Political correctness 24. Groupthink 23. Tribalism 22. The bandwagon effect 21. Doublespeak

- Part 7: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 20. Occam’s razor 19. Look to where the finger is pointing 18. Sunk costs 17. Framing 16. Anchoring

- Part 8: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 15. Meditation 14. Mindfulness 13. Psychedelics 12. Pseudoscience 11. Scientism

- Part 9: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 10. Why you should try to prove yourself wrong – instead of right 9. Probability neglect & the relativity of wrong 8. Why you can’t trust statistics 7. Cognitive Dissonance 6. Sacred Cows

- Part 10: http://lifelessons.co/personal-development/howtogetsmarterpa... 5. Critical thinking questions & the Socratic Method 4. Follow the evidence wherever it leads 3. Motivated reasoning 2. Confirmation bias 1. Thinking for yourself

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#16

Post by wilgertvelinga »

Peter Boghossian - A Manual for Creating Atheists.

While the title suggests it is only about religion the first few chapters are actually very general. The book also sparked a movement called Street Epistemology that has an interesting way of "critical communicaging".

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#17

Post by jacquesm »

danielvf wrote: post #7

“How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie is probably the worlds best book on the basics of communication. Highly recommend it.

I'd like to vote against this recommendation. The people that live by Dale Carnegie's book can be spotted from a mile away and tend to come across as fake. This could be a cultural thing.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#18

Post by sveng »

danielvf wrote: post #7

“How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie is probably the worlds best book on the basics of communication. Highly recommend it.

This book is a classic.

Helps with looking people in the eye and starting—and sustaining—a conversation.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#19

Post by _8j50 »

extralego wrote: post #6

These are, to me, very different skill sets. But, the biggest challenge is to do them both at the same time. Maybe that is what you mean?

Yes,that's what I meant: To think critically and communicate my thoughts well. Although they are different skills they do work in tandem.

Without communication skills, critical thinking would not be as useful since my thoughts won't be communicated well.

For someone doing technical work, good communication skills are great but not so much without applying critical thinking (imo).

Re: Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?

#20

Post by _8j50 »

curious_yogurt wrote: post #13

Critical thinking books vary widely in quality. They often get bogged down in long catalogues of fallacies and categorical logic (which, while interesting, is not as useful as sentential logic and some elementary strategies in first-order logic). One of the shortest, simplest, and most reasonable books I have encountered is "A Rulebook for Arguments" by Anthony Weston, now in its fifth edition.[1] It's about 118 page…

Thank you very much. Short and to the point fits my learning style,sounds likea decent book to start with.
Post reply on HN